A powerful force in the Boston Latin School athletics community in recent years, dominating both the Dual County League (DCL) and high schools around the state, the Boston Latin School (BLS) Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse Team is off to an impressive and unsurprising start this season.

The team is led by a group of determined captains including the O’Brien sisters Quinlan O’Brien (I) and Reagan O’Brien (II), Zada Stuart (I) and Jess Bui (I). Quinlan O’Brien says, “[this group of girls] has 19 players and with only six returners.” She went on to say, “It is a young team, but we have so much potential.”

With the COVID-19 restrictions in place as well as a large portion of the varsity team graduating last year, the girls faced a challenging year. Reagan O’Brien says, “Our spring season has started later than normal, but we are all excited to be back.” She explains, “We are 5-0-1, and we have our sights set on bannering up and competing until the very end of States.”

The focus of the team this year and the years to come is to build the team and have younger players grow into roles of leadership and talent. Quinlan O’Brien adds, “It has been an awesome opportunity to be able to play with girls of all different ages too, and even though a lot of us are not physically in school, it’s awesome to be able to compete as a team.”

Statistically, the girls have been overpowering other teams on the scoreboard. They have started off dominating the competition in the DCL with a 5-0 record. This impressive start, however, has not come without its challenges.

The girls were handed a tough loss early in the season, but kept a positive attitude regardless of the scoreboard. Quinlan O’Brien explains, “We played a non-league game versus NDA (Notre Dame Academy), the reigning State Champions, and even though it didn’t end in a win, it was the beginning of the season and we had so much to be happy about.” Quinlan O’Brien, a Johns Hopkins University commit, reached an astonishing achievement of her own this season, scoring 500 career points.

The team is continuing to hustle everyday at practice. “Our passing and catching and all-around communication on the field has been progressing throughout the season but we had a rocky start. Now, between quarters we set goals for how many turnovers we have and dropped balls,” says Stuart.

Hopefully, the hard work will pay off for these girls as they plan to make a state championship run this year and are ready to face the challenges that the rest of the season will bring. Quinlan O’Brien illustrates what the rest of the season looks like for the girls, saying, “On June 7, we play a big game against Wayland and then again on June 10 at home. Sectionals and States are after that, and we hope we will be playing until the very end. We have a really strong team this year and will work to be the best.”